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COMPARATIVE AND EVOLUTIONARY PHYSIOLOGY

Postprandial increase of oleoylethanolamide mobilization in small intestine of the Burmese python (Python molurus)

¹Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, and ²Center for Drug Discovery, University of California, Irvine, California; ³Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, California; ⁴Department of Zoophysiology, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark; ⁵Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and ⁶Department of Pharmacology, University of California, Irvine, California

Submitted 12 September 2005 ; accepted in final form 19 December 2005

Oleoylethanolamide (OEA) is an endogenous lipid mediator that inhibits feeding in rats and mice by activating the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor- (PPAR-). In rodents, intestinal OEA levels increase about threefold upon refeeding, a response that may contribute to the induction of between-meal satiety. Here, we examined whether feeding-induced OEA mobilization also occurs in Burmese pythons (Python molurus), a species of ambush-hunting snakes that consume huge meals after months of fasting and undergo massive feeding-dependent changes in gastrointestinal hormonal release and gut morphology. Using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), we measured OEA levels in the gastrointestinal tract of fasted (28 days) and fed (48 h after feeding) pythons. We observed a nearly 300-fold increase in OEA levels in the small intestine of fed compared with fasted animals (322 ± 121 vs. 1 ± 1 pmol/mg protein, n = 3–4). In situ OEA biosynthesis was suggested by the concomitant increase of N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine species that serve as potential biosynthetic precursors for OEA. Furthermore, we observed a concomitant increase in saturated, mono- and diunsaturated, but not polyunsaturated fatty-acid ethanolamides (FAE) in the small intestine of fed pythons. The identification of OEA and other FAEs in the gastrointestinal tract of Python molurus suggests that this class of lipid messengers may be widespread among vertebrate groups and may represent an evolutionarily ancient means of regulating energy intake.

peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-; anandamide; fatty-acid ethanolamide; digestive system; food intake

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Fu, J. Kim, F. Oveisi, G. Astarita, and D. Piomelli Targeted enhancement of oleoylethanolamide production in proximal small intestine induces across-meal satiety in rats Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, July 1, 2008; 295(1): R45 - R50. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Astarita, F. Ahmed, and D. Piomelli Identification of biosynthetic precursors for the endocannabinoid anandamide in the rat brain J. Lipid Res., January 1, 2008; 49(1): 48 - 57. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]